Brisbane is experiencing an accommodation revolution and is
leading the field when it comes to upscale hotel development around
the country. In the past 12 months, a suite of new properties have
opened their doors and many more developments are in the pipeline.
Put simply, Brisbane is "hot", says Accommodation Association of
Australia chief executive officer, Richard Munro. "Brisbane, Sydney
and Melbourne are enjoying record occupancy levels, and this has
manifested into new development opportunities. And it's Brisbane
that's setting the pace for new properties."

Long-lead preparations for last year's G20 Leaders' Summit in the
Queensland capital acted as a wake-up call, says Munro, throwing a
spotlight on the shortage of five-star hotels in the city.
Government initiatives to address the hotel shortfall - ranging
from fee waivers to setting aside specific development sites - are
bearing fruit fast. Last year marked the end of Brisbane City
Council's three-year waiver of infrastructure charges for new four-
and five-star hotels. Before this incentive, there had been no
major CBD hotel openings in a decade. Since the fee moratorium, 12
new hotel applications have been approved.

Last year, 5,161,000 domestic travellers spent the night in
Brisbane, with almost a million overseas tourists sleeping over in
the nine months to September. Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk,
says demand for hotel rooms is on the rise from leisure as well as
business travellers. "Last year it was revealed that Brisbane was
forgoing an estimated 278,000 room nights every year due to a
shortage of internationally recognised full-service hotel rooms,"
says Cr Quirk. "Since then, however, approximately 575 additional
hotel rooms and 337 serviced apartments have come online, with a
number of key hotels opening and more are set for completion in the
coming months."

Boutique property Spicers Balfour Hotel in inner-city New Farm
isn't new - it opened in 2010 - but it's in expansion mode. By
spring it will have all but doubled in size. Eight new luxury
suites are being created in an Art Deco building located two doors
down from its original nine-suite Queenslander. Spicers Balfour
Hotel general manager, Sam Giles, says Balfour's new rooms are
geared towards leisure travellers. They will be larger than the
existing options, averaging 35 square metres compared with 17 to 24
square metres.

"We've been running at between 87 per cent and 92 per cent
occupancy, so we felt the demand was there for new rooms," says
Giles. The investments being carried out by Spicers and other hotel
groups are in response to changing traveller behaviour
patterns.

"In the past, tourists thought there wasn't a lot to do in
Brisbane, so they'd fly in and drive out to the Gold Coast or the
Sunshine Coast or Byron Bay. Now they spend one or two nights in
the CBD first."

If you're in the market for a hotel room in Brisbane, whether it
be a new property or an established one, now's the time to bag a
five-star bargain, says Munro. "When new properties come along,
everyone looks at their product and tries to improve. Initially
this means discounting, which is great for consumers."

BRISBANE'S BEST NEW PLAYERS
TRYP FORTITUDE VALLEY HOTEL
It's difficult to imagine how this 65-room hotel could better suit
its groovy-but-still-gritty location. It's covered in street art,
with a portrait rendered by Melbourne artist Rone adorning three
upper storeys of the façade. It also has one of Australia's coolest
breakfast options - chef Warren Turnbull's Chur Burger is at street
level and his team also looks after in-room dining.

Five storeys above the ground, reached via custom-glass elevator,
is Turnbull's colourful rooftop bar, Up on Constance. Tryp's
interiors are just as eclectic, pops of orange and blue resonating
with the ubiquitous street art. Each floor features artworks and
murals by a single practitioner. The artists Rone, Beastman,
Numskull and Fintan Magee used to break into the building when it
lay derelict. Designers retained many of the existing pieces and
added new works. Tryp's difference is the effort it makes to
embrace the neighbourhood. Managed by Wyndham, the motto for guests
is "own the city", and staff look the part, wearing Brisbane
designer Black Milk. Best party digs? Two of the king rooms have
external astroturfed terraces with a four-person spa.

NEXT HOTEL BRISBANE
Sitting right in the heart of the CBD is Next Hotel by
SilverNeedle Hospitality - a clever revamp of an old Brisbane icon,
Chifley at Lennons. For a city-centre hotel aimed at the business
traveller, the 304-room, 20-storey Next Hotel crams in a swag of
cool recreational nice-to-haves. Exit the hotel on Burnett Lane
side and you'll encounter a quirky mix of alleyway finds: slick
eatery The Survey Co, industrially chic bar Super Whatnot, Felix
Espresso and Wine Bar, plus The Record Exchange, a huge second-hand
vinyl store and more. Leave from the Queen Street Mall exit and
you're in the middle of Brisbane's busiest shopping strip.

The rooms are well-designed and functional rather than glam, but
deliver some five-star touches for your four-star tariff. This
flagship brand of Singapore-based SilverNeedle Hospitality has
invested heavily in technology.

Its smartphone check-in and smartphone-operated hotel rooms are
examples of the fresh thinking that's altering the landscape for
guests. In particular, frequent travellers welcome the chance to
select a room online and go straight up, bypassing reception.

General manager Alexander Billing says the bulk of Next's rooms
are occupied by corporates and business travellers midweek, but at
the weekend, the demographic changes. "We're seeing lots of 25- to
35-year-old well-travelled people looking for fun. So from early on
a Saturday we're seeing pool cocktails - it's like a little slice
of Miami in Brisbane."

The rooftop terrace, with a cool 20-metre pool, is another
game-changer. Facilities in the lounge range from a bar and pool to
sleep pods, showers, locker rooms, a help-yourself pantry and
24-hour gym. They are available to all guests, not just those who
pay extra. There's generosity, too, in the minibar policy, which
offers four items free of charge daily.

Hungry? Smart-casual Lennons Restaurant & Bar has Todd Adams,
formerly of Stokehouse Brisbane, at the burners, grilling whole
local Moreton Bay whiting and serving it with lemon, rosemary and
fennel salt, or a steak cooked on the parrilla, with a buckwheat
and quinoa salad and smoked yoghurt.

GAMBARO HOTEL
This four-storey inner-city hotel is a surprise package - a glam
oasis of Hirsch Bedner-designed interiors a footie kick from
Suncorp Stadium. It's not clear whether UN secretary general Ban
Ki-moon made the most of its location (GT 2015 Bar of the
Year, Lefty's Old Time Music Hall, is staggering distance) when he
stayed, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel impressed locals by
hitting the Caxton Street strip during the G20.

The Gambaro family has been in hospitality since the 1950s,
starting out with a simple fish and chip shop, and the hotel's
dramatic atrium artwork, featuring shoals of fish, is an homage to
humble beginnings. The big selling point here, apart from the
five-star trappings, is the genuine warmth of a family operation
generated by the hands-on owner-operators.

Entry-level rooms back onto the light-filled atrium, so while the
interior palette is Armani-muted, it's not too dark. Double-glazing
is also super-effective - and necessary, given the proximity to
Caxton Street. But 49 of the 68 rooms have balconies, so you have
the choice to scope out the street action from above.

Top digs are the two-bedroom suites - the JG Suite hosted a
bilateral meeting during G20, but the fourth-floor Paddington
Deluxe suite gives sports fans the best vistas of Suncorp
Stadium.

THE NEW INCHCOLM HOTEL & SUITES
There's a jaunty Knightsbridge-meets-New York feel to the fetching
white stucco and brick exterior of Brisbane's first MGallery hotel.
Last year's $8 million revamp has been rewarded with an official
five-star rating by AAA Tourism and the room tally sits at 50,
including some double-storey, light-filled, New York-style loft
suites in a modern addition at the back of the property. Rooms are
elegant and individual - Robertson Design Studio International has
blended old and new, featuring layered patterns and glam touches
like four-poster beds in some suites, with bespoke room carpets and
custom mirrors throughout. The scale is intimate with a definite
nod to the site's heritage.

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
CAPRI BY FRASER
Four-and-a-half-star Capri by Fraser, is aimed at the "always
connected" traveller. The hotel residence property opened in April,
and also offers a range of what it calls e-efficiencies, including
iPad check-ins and an e-concierge. The attention to detail extends
to the on-site laundry kitted out as a 24/7 "Spin and Play"
laundrette, so guests can play foosball and Xbox Kinect between
spin cycles.

MORE TO COME
EMPORIUM HOTEL SOUTH BANK
The Emporium Hotel, Fortitude Valley - a pioneer in the Brisbane
boutique hotel scene - also has a 144-suite sibling under way at
South Bank as part of a $590 million development. Plans there
include an infinity pool and sky deck overlooking the city. Due
2016.

ICON NORTHSHORE HAMILTON
Wentworth Properties' five-star, 227-room hotel will be part of a
$650 million development at Northshore, Hamilton.

THE JOHNSON
Brisbane's first Art Series Hotel will be housed in a
heritage-listed Karl Langer building in Spring Hill. Due to open in
2016, the 11-storey, $155 million development will combine around
100 guest suites with residential apartments.

PULLMAN BRISBANE AIRPORT
Brisbane Airport's first five-star hotel is due late 2016. It's
another project from the Flynn Property Group and Scott Flynn
Properties, who first developed the Novotel Brisbane Airport in
2009.

QUEEN'S WHARF DEVELOPMENT
Construction is set to start in 2017 on Echo Entertainment's
massive redevelopment of Queen's Wharf. Under the plans, Treasury
Casino will morph into a five-star Ritz Carlton Hotel and at least
four other premium hotels will feature.

RYDGES
As part of the $2.9 billion revamp of Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds
at Bowen Hills, Rydges has a 208-room property under way, to open
in 2016. That's on top of a $12 million refit of Rydges South Bank
to bring the venue in line with its award-winning restaurant,
Bacchus.

W HOTEL
This 32-storey structure will bring 305 rooms on the old Supreme
Courts site overlooking the river and is due to open early
2018.

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
CAPRI BY FRASER
Four-and-a-half-star Capri by Fraser, is aimed at the "always
connected" traveller. The hotel residence property opened in April,
and also offers a range of what it calls e-efficiencies, including
iPad check-ins and an e-concierge. The attention to detail extends
to the on-site laundry kitted out as a 24/7 "Spin and Play"
laundrette, so guests can play foosball and Xbox Kinect between
spin cycles.

MORE TO COME
EMPORIUM HOTEL SOUTH BANK
The Emporium Hotel, Fortitude Valley - a pioneer in the Brisbane
boutique hotel scene - also has a 144-suite sibling under way at
South Bank as part of a $590 million development. Plans there
include an infinity pool and sky deck overlooking the city. Due
2016.

ICON NORTHSHORE HAMILTON
Wentworth Properties' five-star, 227-room hotel will be part of a
$650 million development at Northshore, Hamilton.

THE JOHNSON
Brisbane's first Art Series Hotel will be housed in a
heritage-listed Karl Langer building in Spring Hill. Due to open in
2016, the 11-storey, $155 million development will combine around
100 guest suites with residential apartments.

PULLMAN BRISBANE AIRPORT
Brisbane Airport's first five-star hotel is due late 2016. It's
another project from the Flynn Property Group and Scott Flynn
Properties, who first developed the Novotel Brisbane Airport in
2009.

QUEEN'S WHARF DEVELOPMENT
Construction is set to start in 2017 on Echo Entertainment's
massive redevelopment of Queen's Wharf. Under the plans, Treasury
Casino will morph into a five-star Ritz Carlton Hotel and at least
four other premium hotels will feature.

RYDGES
As part of the $2.9 billion revamp of Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds
at Bowen Hills, Rydges has a 208-room property under way, to open
in 2016. That's on top of a $12 million refit of Rydges South Bank
to bring the venue in line with its award-winning restaurant,
Bacchus.

W HOTEL
This 32-storey structure will bring 305 rooms on the old Supreme
Courts site overlooking the river and is due to open early
2018.

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